Did I Screw Up? And How Do I Fix It?

journey on · Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:20 pm Post subject:

To bleed the Baystar/Seastar system manually, without the loss of fluid, feed the drain lines at the motor ram into a clean container. That will capture the fluid one has pumped through from the helm pump and can be taken forward and recycled through the helm again.

All the bubble purge system does is replace the container with a plastic tube to transfer the bleed fluid up to the helm. And charge one a couple of hundred bucks.

This assumes that one is putting fluid into the helm pump and pumping it out through the ram; either by pressure or turning the helm.

Boris

Hunkydory · Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:46 pm Post subject:

Colby, for the same reasons you stated, I too ordered the Pro SC. I hope it works as well for us both as was demonstrated in the video.

I’m also hoping the EV 150 with its 1 liter motor instead of the .5 liter pump in the S1000 & EV 100 & much upgraded control system will at least be a lot better than my old S1000. It was adequate for my use until the last couple seasons, when I believe the pump is starting to fail again. I have been aboard & observed the operation of the Garmin auto pilot in both Jody’s Voyager & Bill’s Mystery Girl & believe it superior to the Raymine, but at a cost of another $2000. The cost alone was not the deciding factor in my choice of the EV 150. In the remote area I live, getting new hydraulic lines to match the helm would have been a pain, especially here during the winter with COVID & me wanting to have every thing ready & learned if the Border does open & allow another Alaska trip. The EV 150 was a quick change over to my existing helm hydraulics. The one thing I do think Superior about the EV 150 is the ability to steer the boat with just the little round knob on the 70R controller. Also the use of an auto pilot for me is primarily to have it maintain an accurate temporary heading, until I chose another & occasionally follow a GoTo a waypoint.

I will post what I think of it’s use after getting back on the water & syncing it with the also new Raymaine Axiom 9+ chart.

Jay

drbridge · Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:48 pm Post subject:

Although the bubble purge pro may work very well, I can tell you from experience that the simple jumper between both bleed valves works very well. It does the same thing as far as I can see as the bubble pro, except you are using your existing steering line to return the fluid to the helm. As far as the auto pilot bleed, you center your motor and then engage the pilot. Then you trigger the pump to come on by asking the pilot to go 1 degree starboard until it purges the air and then the same to port. go back and fourth a couple of times until you see no more air coming out of the helm to the bottle. I did this on ours and it worked like a charm. all you need is the 10 inch jumper hose with the quick connect fittings to the bleed valves. It cost twenty dollars and it can easily be kept on board as it takes up little room. It is a clean and efficient method with no down side that I can see.
It could also be used to purge the system by inserting the provided Male fitting in to the female quick connector and then run that in to a catch vessels for the old fluid while you pump in new fluid. This would be done one side at a time of course. When finished purging you would reconnect the bleed valves with the jumper and open them both to bleed the system.

colbysmith · Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 1:06 pm Post subject:

Boris and Doug I agree with both of you. Actually I do also save my fluid and reuse it. To a extent. But it doesn’t hurt to change it out and there’s always a chance to reintroduce contaminants. I think the same thing about the cost but I don’t just see the vinyl tubing but all the brass fittings that make the process easier and cleaner! The one problem I do have about just putting a tube between the two ram bleeder valves is expecting all the air to rise at the helm without being pumped back thru the system. Even in the bubble purge system video he was still getting air after stating he had purged the system earlier. So it may not be a quick system, but still an improvement over the old way!

Jay the extra size of the pump will probably help greatly. The half liter definitely didn’t cut it.

Hunkydory · Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 1:18 pm Post subject:

drbridge · Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 1:49 pm Post subject:

drbridge · Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 3:13 pm Post subject:

What I should have stated in my previous post, is that in an "open reservoir" air goes up. Under pressure it can be forced up, down or sideways. The helm when hooked to the bottle is an open reservoir and when the air enters it goes up to the bottle. The air can not move from the system downstream of the reservoir in to the reservoir on it's own because the spring loaded check valves in the helm make that a closed system. That is why you have to push it in to the open reservoir with pressure from the helm pump or the auto pilot pump.